User blog:Swordcross/Cahill Mystery Theatre Chapter 1
As a few of you may have noticed on my userpage, I also write fanfics. This is one of my best. Cahill Mystery Theatre Chapter 1: Setting up the Board Amy glanced at her clipboard. Everything was set for the event. Five tables were set with red, yellow, blue, green, and black tablecloths. Nellie, Reagan, and Sinead cooking stuff up in the kitchen, the Starling boys taking everyone's food orders, Yasmeen Badawi manning the computer for the PowerPoint later in the evening, all of the Janus, Jonah Wizard, Sophie Watson, Lan Nguyen, Leslie Mill, and Lily Green, a new recruit for the Madrigal's cause, behind the curtain preparing for the night's entertainment, Amy herself standing on the stage, working out the last-minute details for the meeting/dinner theater. A quick look at the guest list showed that everyone was here. Dan, Uncle Fiske, Mr. McIntyre, and Saladin were sitting at the black table, talking with two other Madrigals who they had been working with lately, Emily Martella and Jessica White, two more new recruits. Emily wore her normal doctor's coat and red pants, white Jessica was clad in jeans and a black leather jacket. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the conversation, except for Saladin, who was sitting in his seat and meowing, obviously wanting red snapper. The green table was empty, because all of the Janus were backstage, except for Broderick Wizard, who was at the yellow table, chatting with Alistair Oh and Victor Wood. Devin Cooper was at the snack-bar style window to the kitchen, begging Reagan for a sneak peek at tonight's dinner. Rebecca Copperfield, an Ekat recruit, was reading a mystery book and taking notes on a notepad. She was wearing her standard-issue plaid skirt and yellow blouse, like her favorite detective of all time, Nancy Drew. The blue table contained Eisenhower, Mary-Todd, and Madison Holt, Paul Addison, George McClain, Maleia Kalani, and Kyle Johnson, another new recruit. Hamilton was chumming around with Yasmeen at the laptop, swapping computer tips and trivia. Kyle and Paul were arm-wrestling while at the same time arguing about baseball. Madison and Reagan were trying to break open George's briefcase, with Eisenhower grinning stupidly and Mary-Todd trying to break it up. Maleia just looked bored. Only the Lucians were keeping to their own branch. Ian and Natalie were sitting at the red table, bored-looking, in their ultra-formal clothes. Ian was wearing a jet-black sports coat and tie, and Natalie had on a silky red floor-length dress. Alana Flores was messing with a strange device, patiently waiting on the food. Gordon Klose was doing something on his smartphone, courtesy of Section 7, the top-secret branch of the US government in charge of monitoring Cahills where he was working undercover for the Lucians. Maria Zenette was doing something on her red iPad. The Canadian-Mexican was another new recruit, but was always alone and quiet. Now Ned and Ted were bringing out the fruit of the girls' labor. Nellie, Reagan, and Sinead had produced dishes from all ends of the food spectrum, from Natalie's Caesar salad with low-fat dressing to Eisenhower's extra-large cheesesteak, ballpark style. And now the representatives from the creative branch of the Cahill family were taking the stage. Leslie had written the script for tonight's performance. It was a mystery, involving Jonah investigating the disappearance of Sophie, working with Lily to solve the case. How the Janus had roped her into the play, no one knew. The performers came out. Amy hadn't bothered to spurge for costumes, so Jonah was wearing his normal gangster clothes, and Lily was wearing a green t-shirt and running shorts, with her blond hair in a ponytail. As soon as the play started, Amy was able to sit down for the first time that night. Planning this whole branch meeting/Vesper awareness conference had been really taking a toll on her, and it was good to take a break. Just then, the lights went out. ---- The Vesper's name was Kody. He had been recruited into the Vesper organization when he was 12, when he had made the national news by kidnapping his teacher and holding her at gunpoint, all for the horrible crime of giving him a D- on a project. He was supposed to go to jail for fifteen years. He went for two months. The Vespers had noticed his potential, and bailed him ASAP. His abilities at kidnapping and disguises was far above average, and he had won 72 Halloween costume contests over the course of his life, as well as impersonated countless Cahills, including a crucial mission into a Janus stronghold, where he disguised himself as Broderick Wizard. He looked down at his subject. He had studied this person for weeks, memorizing everything about the Cahill. Now, after hundreds of disguise sessions, this was the real deal. From now on, he was not Kody Harrison. He was- Muffled screaming from the bound and gagged Cahill in the chair. More useless attempts at escape. Oh well. He had bigger plans. Kody walked out of the door. Let the mind games begin. ---- Dan instinctively ducked under the table. The black tablecloth shielded his vision. He heard metal clanking, then silence. A few moments later, the lights came back on. When Dan popped back into the light, the entire room was in chaos. Tables were overturned. Chairs were smashed. A few people lay on the ground, moaning. "What happened here?" Dan asked. Hamilton and Yasmeen poked their heads out of the sound booth. The Starling boys appeared out of the kitchen. Natalie crawled out from under a table. "We don't know…" said Amy, coming out of the broom closet. "But I'm going to find out," said Rebecca confidently, tipping her beret. She looked uninjured, and she was writing things down on her notepad. Dan did a quick survey of the room. He counted about 20 people, strange considering the 35-member guest list. Amy, Rebecca, Jonah, Lily, and Saladin were standing around. The Starling boys were scanning the kitchen for clues. Hamilton and Yasmeen were checking the laptop for damage. Madison was running around the room, screaming. Eisenhower was trying to calm her down. Alistair, Kyle, and Alana were on the ground, evidently in pain. Maria and Jessica were helping Paul to his feet. Devin and Emily were trying to fix a table. No one could explain what had just happened. Until Hamilton and Yasmeen got the laptop and projector working. Then everyone saw the V. Category:Blog posts